As Aran sprinted down the street, Kristina and Elio dashed after him, the sound of frantic footsteps echoing behind them. They turned around a corner, vanishing from sight.
Back at the scene, one of the thugs crouched beside their leader, who was now hunched over and wheezing in pain.
"B-Boss! You okay?!"
The biker leader let out a strained, high-pitched croak.
"Y-Yeah... I'm... fine…".
His voice was high pitched.
"Ngh! Nevermind me... Get them!"
"On it!"
The gang revved up their engines all at once, tires screeching and exhaust snarling.
"Let's go, boys!"
With a synchronized roar, the bikes peeled out from the curb, leaving behind skid marks—and their boss still doubled over and wheezing.
________________________________________
"What the heck was that, Aran?!" Kristina shouted between gasps as they sprinted down the sidewalk, weaving through startled pedestrians.
"I should be asking you that!" Aran shot back, not slowing down. "What do those dudes want with you?!"
Kristina threw her hands up as she ran. "I don't know! I've never seen them before in my life!"
"Well, they sure knew you!"
Behind them, the sound of roaring engines grew louder.
Elio, keeping pace effortlessly, glanced over his shoulder. "They're catching up."
"O-okay! Uh... Plan B!"
"What's Plan B?" Kristina asked already starting to lose her breath and fall behind.
"Elio! Upsies!"
"Huh?!"
Kristina tilted her head in confusion.
Without any hesitation Elio activated his perk. Electricity started to crackle as he charged his muscles up.
"On it!"
A quick flash of light suddenly traveled towards Kristina and Aran.
Kristina squeezed her eyes shut on instinct.
When she opened them—
They were in the air.
Soaring several meters above the ground, wind rushing past her face, both her and Aran were being carried on Elio's shoulders.
"W-what the—?!" Kristina shrieked.
Below, the city rushed by in dizzying blurs.
Aran, meanwhile, was grinning like an idiot.
"Hah! Later, losers!" he shouted happily at the bikers below, raising both hands into the air and showing a gesture that was not appropriate or PG.
"Hahahaha!"
________________________________________
Kristina leaned against the wall of a quiet alleyway, bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
Aran walked over to her, a little concerned.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Ughh… my stomach is still spinning…"
"Yeah… Sorry about that," Aran said, scratching his cheek. "Should've warned you Elio's like a living roller coaster when he gets going."
Kristina gave him a look that said "You think?" before groaning and bracing herself again.
"I didn't even see him pick us up. It was just… zap—sky—and now this..."
Aran sighed a bit as he took something out of his backpack.
"Here, I haven't drank out of it yet."
It was an unopened plastic bottle of water.
Kristina looked at him, then slowly reached for it.
"…Thanks."
"No problem," Aran nodded. "Drink it slowly, okay?"
Stepping into view, Elio asked a question.
"Sorry to interrupt, but do you have a plan, Aran?"
"Hm…" Aran crossed his arms, eyes narrowing slightly. "Let me think… They seemed to have business with Kristina, but you said you've never met them before, right?"
He asked, turning to her.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Not once."
Elio leaned against the alley wall, glancing toward the open street. "They recognized you on sight, though. That's not random."
"They also didn't mention anything specific," Aran murmured. "They just wanted to take you with them. Said if we did anything to you, they'd make us regret it."
Kristina's brow furrowed. "Wait—what if they thought you two were threatening me?"
Aran blinked. "Us?"
He asked, surprised while pointing to himself and Elio.
"I mean..."
She looked at the two of them. Safe to say, they were a strange-looking duo.
The scary-eyed tall delinquent and the gloomy dark-haired loner that hides behind his bangs. From the outside, they did look like the type of guys who'd be dragging a girl into trouble.
But she couldn't exactly say that out loud.
"...I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover, huh?" she murmured while looking away.
"Eh?"
"I-it's nothing!" Kristina nervously chuckled.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment.
I feel like she just thought about something rude, but I'll ignore it...
Aran said in his mind.
"Anyways," he said, stretching his arms behind his head, "I guess we'll hang around her until things cool down. After that, we'll talk to the cops..."
Kristina raised an eyebrow. "What, like… babysit me?"
"No, more like… protection." Aran replied.
Elio nodded, arms crossed. "For safety."
"Yeah, safety!" Aran echoed, clearly liking the sound of it. "It's not like we're looking down on you or anything..."
"Is that soo?" Kristina muttered.
She sounded oddly amused.
"Still, I can handle myself, for your information!"
She told them, crossing her arms and puffing her chest up proudly.
"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, you have a really strong perk, Kristina."
"She does?" Elio asked, curious.
Aran nodded.
"Mhm. It's awesome!"
Kristina's proud pose faltered for half a second, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. She didn't expect praise—especially not from Aran.
"O-oh?" she blinked, caught off guard. "Well… yeah. I guess it's not bad." she chuckled.
"No, I'm serious. During the sparring matches, your abilities really surprised me. You defeated Ed so easily. And I know they were just holograms, but when you used your ice crystals you looked... Uh..."
Aran suddenly started to blush.
"N-nevermind..."
'I almost said something embarrassing there...' Aran thought in his mind
Kristina tilted her head, curious. "Huh? My ice crystals…? what? Hey hey don't stop! Tell me!"
She moved her face closer to Aran's, making him look away from embarrassment.
"C'mon, can you give a guy some space?"
"Nope! You got me curious, so I won't stop bugging you til you speak up!"
"Mmm!!"
Aran closed his eyes trying to endure Kristina's constant attention before breaking.
"Okay! Uh..."
Aran cleared his throat to calm himself down.
"When you use your perk you look..."
"Yeah...?"
Kristina leaned closer in anticipation.
"Really... Pretty... Sorry, I don't mean anything weird by it..."
Aran told her. His voice, becoming quieter each word.
Kristina froze.
Her playful grin softened. "...oh."
Then, a second later— she raised her head with an even bigger grin.
"Eh~ Is this your own way of flirting? Gross!~"
She poked his arm with mock offense, laughter breaking through the blush on her cheeks.
Kristina laughed at him while poking him as a way to tease.
Aran groaned, hugging his knees on the ground out of embarrassment.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything…"
"Haha! I'm kidding! Thanks..."
Kristina gently smiled at him.
"...Then you'll forget it then?"
"Nooope!~"
Elio smiled, quietly chuckling at this sight. It was almost as if they forgot about the bikers looking for them.
________________________________________
About 20 minutes have passed and the sky had taken a gentle orange hue, and the air felt a bit cooler than earlier.
Aran took the liberty of going out first with Kristina following closely behind.
Elio was the last to leave and scare a group of middle schoolers when he came out of the alleyway.
"Okay... The police station is a few blocks away, but it shouldn't take too long with Elio here."
Aran said before Elio leaned in closely. A little concerned.
The two formed a small huddle and whispered to each other, leaving Kristina out of it.
"Uh... Are we sure they can be trusted now...?"
"Yeah, no worries. Mr. Isaac made sure to handle it."
"Hm... I hope you're right."
Elio nodded his head, still full of worry.
"Uh... whatcha guys talking about?" Kristina asked the two of them, clearly confused.
Aran and Elio immediately straightened up.
"Nothing important!" Aran said a little too fast, waving his hands casually.
"Yep. Definitely nothing shady," Elio added.
Kristina stared at them both, unconvinced. "You two are terrible liars."
Aran laughed nervously. "I-It's nothing weird! I promise. Just… logistics."
"Logistics?"
"Like… where to go… and… how fast Elio should carry us again."
"I find that hard to believe..."
"Just roll with it, please?"
Kristina sighed before nodding her head.
"Alright..."
________________________________________
As the three prepaid to set off, a sudden voice called out.
"Hah! Found em, boss!!!"
When they looked back, they saw one of the bikers pointing at them while holding a phone.
He revved his engine and drove towards Kristina, planning on grabbing her.
Aran and Elio reacted quickly and prepared to run away again before realizing they were trapped.
Another group of bikers blocked the way towards the police station.
"Elio, grab us and jump over them!" Aran yelled.
"Right!"
Elio nodded before feeling something wrap around his leg and getting swept off and falling.
"Elio! Are you okay?!"
Aran kneeled down to check on him.
"I'm fine..." Elio told him. "I'm more embarrassed over the fact that I fell down, though..."
"That's what you're worried about?!" Kristina yelled.
"Haha!! We got you now!"
"Tch!"
Aran clicked his tongue at the biker's comment—before blinking in confusion.
The biker's motorcycle suddenly wobbled mid-charge.
"Whoa—what the—!?"
The wheels slid out from under him, and the whole bike veered sharply to the side. With a loud CLANK, the biker was launched off like a poorly executed circus stunt, crashing into a trash bin with a loud CLANG-THUD.
"...Huh?" Aran muttered.
He looked down to discover that the road was covered by a thin layer of ice...
"Could it be...?"
He turned to Kristina, who stood with one hand slightly raised, her fingertips faintly shimmering with cold mist.
A single icy breath escaped her lips.
"I'm getting really sick of you guys not taking a hint!" Kristina shouted, her voice echoing through the narrow street.
"Why you little—!" Another one of the bikers growled, revving his engine and lunging forward.
But the moment his tires touched the icy patch, they jerked violently. The bike twisted sideways with a screech, and he was flung off, sliding across the pavement until his bike slammed into a mailbox.
Aran and Elio winced, a little worried about the biker.
Kristina walked casually towards the group of remaining bikers and summoned several snowballs around her.
They all backed away except for their leader.
"Heh, you're pretty good!"
He walked towards Kristina, dropping into a boxing stance as his knuckles hardened into stone.
Elio's eyes widened from surprise. He seemed to remember something.
"That stance..."
It was familiar, but he couldn't think about it any longer as the biker leader yelled at Kristina.
"Be a nice girl and listen. Someone's waiting for you!"
"I already told you I don't want to go with you!" She told him, stomping on the ground out of annoyance.
"Sorry, but I don't want to deal with her tatrums later..."
"Her?" Kristina tilted her head.
"Whatever, I'll just get you instead!"
The biker leader took off his shoes and turned his feet into spiked footwear to stand on the ice. The next moment, he charged at Kristina, intending to grab her.
After he did that, Kristina reacted quickly and shot the floating snow balls at an incredible speed, hitting the leader with a barrage.
However, he wasn't fazed. He returned the favor.
He was punching every single projectile.
The flurry of snowballs burst against his fists, each one detonating in a puff of frost and mist. The cloud of snow thickened, obscuring Kristina's view.
"Tch…" she narrowed her eyes.
From within the whiteout, the sound of footsteps approached—fast.
A stone-covered fist shot through the cloud.
Kristina leaned back just in time, the punch grazing past her nose with terrifying speed. She slid across the pavement with practiced grace, breath visible in the chilly air.
"You're not just some pretty face, huh?" the biker sneered, charging through the mist like a boulder.
"Ew. Don't flirt while trying to punch me," Kristina snapped, forming a shard of ice in her hand and hurling it at his leg.
It hit his shin and made him stumble—but not fall.
"Argh!"
Aran and Elio who were watching this fight were left stunned.
"Whoa, she was that strong?" Elio asked.
"I guess so. She was impressive during the test, but she sure can hold her own in a real fight."
"Yep..." Elio nodded. "Anyways, should we deal with them too?"
He pointed at the group of bikers hiding behind their boss.
"Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder!" He cracked his knuckles. "Alright, guys… time for the side characters to step in."
One of the bikers jolted. "Wh-who're you calling side characters?!"
Elio's hair spiked up and his eyes sparked with electricity. "You. Obviously." He casually said while pointing at them.
With a loud crack, lightning surged around his arms, jumping between his fingertips like fireflies on a warpath.
"Let's go," Aran said with a confident grin.
Elio broke through the crowd like a thunderbolt splitting the air, taking down several bikers in less than a few seconds.
Meanwhile, Aran bobbed and weaved through several strikes before hitting one of the bikers in the jaw, making them drop to the ground.
________________________________________